Strategic Planning and Performance, Principal

Blue Shield of California; California (MO); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Blue Shield of California is seeking a Strategic Planning and Performance Principal to lead the annual functional plans and executive reporting within the People and Engagement group. You will translate enterprise strategy into actionable plans, coordinate multi9-disciplinary initiatives, and manage cross9-functional financials to hit budget targets.

In this role you will partner with Finance, HR, Analytics, and Leadership to drive performance, build dashboards, and guide senior leadership on

Qualifications

• Requires a bachelor2s degree or equivalent experience.
• Requires at least 10 years of prior relevant experience, with a focus on program and project management, financial and budget management, senior leadership-level communication, and interdisciplinary team, stakeholder, and initiative management.
• Requires autonomy and proactive thinking to achieve goals and create value.
• Able to develop polished content for varied audiences (PowerPoint decks, dashboards, reports).
• Healthcare experience preferred; Mastere2s degree in healthcare administration or MBA preferred.

Responsibilities

• Facilitate the development of P&Eroad annual functional plans cascading enterprise strategy into P&E goals with initiatives.
• Develop and manage P&Eroad technology roadmap with Stellarus portfolio, including AI capabilities, prioritization and value realization.
• Lead management-level reporting of ongoing portfolio for alignment with strategy and KPIs, mitigating challenges and risks.
• Create and maintain the structure and integrity of platforms used to manage and report performance; improve processes.
• Build visuals/dashboards/reports to provide insight into upcoming initiatives and resource needs.
• Manage budget planning as part of annual cycle; partner with Finance for forecasting.
• Consult senior management on significant issues and drive cross-functional collaboration.
• Track progress against goals and performance metrics; determine actions and drive to completion.

Skills

Program management

Strategic planning

Budget management

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelore2s degree or equivalent experience

Mastere2s degree preferred

Tools

PowerPoint

Excel

Airtable

Workday

Job description

The People and Engagement (P&E) Strategy, Analytics and Talent Acquisition team drives enterprise impact through: (1) Defining our strategy for being a great place to do meaningful work, and translating that into execution through operational, tech, financial, and human capital plans and objectives; (2) Developing insights through advanced analytics of our “people” metrics, data, and trends, and turning these insights into action via cross-functional partnerships; and (3) Recruiting, hiring, and retaining the great talent needed to achieve our enterprise goals and serve our members.

The Strategic Planning and Performance, Principal will report to the Director, Strategic Planning and Performance. In this role you will support the creation, ongoing execution and reporting of P&E’s annual functional plans (operational, financial, human capital, and tech) and key performance indicators. You will anticipate and create visibility into upcoming critical initiatives and efforts that have a direct impact on P&E and organizational goals and risk reduction. In addition, you will provide high-level management of cross-functional financials in order to achieve P&E budget targets. You will help drive the strategic direction for P&E through your actions and engagement with the P&E senior leadership team.

Your Work

In this role, you will:

• Facilitate the development of P&E’s annual functional plans by taking the Ascendiun Family of Company’s enterprise-level mission and strategies, and cascading them into P&E goals, supported by a set of specialized initiatives that drive performance to targets
• Develop and manage P&E’s technology roadmap in partnership with the Stellarus corporate platform portfolio, including AI capabilities, prioritization and value realization
• Own the management and leadership-level-reporting of the ongoing portfolio of operating plan initiatives and key performance indicators to ensure alignment with P&E strategy and objectives, and mitigate challenges and risks
• Create and maintain the structure, process and integrity of the platforms used to centrally manage and report on functional plan performance; leverage these platforms to improve existing department processes
• Build visuals/dashboards/reports that provide insight into upcoming critical initiatives and events, in order to anticipate challenges, resource needs and interdependencies
• Manage budget planning as part of the annual budget cycle; work in conjunction with Finance partners to complete business planning and forecasting and provide budget support
• Consult and make recommendations to senior management on significant issues
• Drive collaboration with cross-functional internal and external stakeholders, building key relationships with Finance, Human Resources Business Partners, Analytics, Talent Acquisition and leadership team members; lead the P&E weekly “pod” with these stakeholders to address near‑term business priorities and challenges
• Track progress against goals including metrics and performance tracking
• Determine key business issues, develop effective action plans and implement to successful conclusion

Your Knowledge and Experience

• Requires a bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
• Requires at least 10 years of prior relevant experience, with a focus on program and project management, financial and budget management, senior leadership-level communication (verbal and written), and interdisciplinary team, stakeholder, and initiative management
• Requires the ability to operate autonomously with limited oversight, and think proactively around next steps for achieving goals and creating value
• Requires the ability to think strategically and problem‑solve complex, dynamic issues related to strategic plan execution
• Requires the ability to develop streamlined and polished content for a wide range of audiences (PowerPoint decks, financial and analytical presentations, leadership dashboards, operating plan reports, etc.)
• Requires the ability to maintain high levels of organization in the face of a changing environment or priorities
• Knowledge of change management principles and practices preferred
• Competency across PowerPoint, Excel, Airtable and experience with Workday strongly preferred
• Healthcare experience strongly preferred
• Master’s degree in healthcare administration, Business Administration or similar field preferred

Hybrid

This role requires employees to be in‑office based on our hybrid workplace model, balancing purposeful in‑person collaboration with flexibility. For most teams, this means coming into the office two days each week.

Employees living more than 50 miles from an office location will work with their manager to determine in‑office time based on business need.

ABOUT US

About Blue Shield of California and the Ascendiun Family of Companies

As of January 2025, Blue Shield of California became a subsidiary of Ascendiun. Ascendiun is a nonprofit corporate entity that is the parent to a family of organizations including Blue Shield of California and its subsidiary, Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan; Altais, a clinical services company; and Stellarus, a company designed to scale healthcare solutions. Together, these organizations are referred to as the Ascendiun Family of Companies.

At Ascendiun, we believe in a brighter future for healthcare. As the parent to a family of four innovative healthcare companies, we’re reimagining what’s possible. Ascendiun is guided by the goal of transforming a dysfunctional American health care system into one worthy of our family and friends and sustainably affordable for everyone.

To achieve our mission, we foster an environment where all employees can thrive and contribute fully to address the needs of the various communities we serve. We are committed to creating and maintaining a supportive workplace that upholds our values and advances our goals.

Our Values:

• Honest. We hold ourselves to the highest ethical and integrity standards. We build trust by doing what we say we're going to do and by acknowledging and correcting where we fall short.
• Human. We strive listen and communicate effectively, and showing empathy by understanding others’ perspectives.
• Courageous. We stand up for what we believe in and are committed to the hard work necessary to achieve our ambitious goals.

Our Workplace Model:

We believe in fostering a workplace environment that balances purposeful in‑person collaboration with flexibility - providing clear expectations while respecting the diverse needs of our workforce. Our workplace model is designed around intentional in‑person interaction, collaboration, connection, creativity and flexibility:

For most teams, this means coming into the office two days per week.

Employees living 50+ miles from an office location, out of state employees, and employees in certain member‑facing roles should work with their manager to determine in‑office time based on business need.

For employees with medical conditions that may impact their ability to work in‑office, we are committed to engaging in an interactive process and providing reasonable accommodations to ensure their work environment is conducive to their success and well‑being.

The Company reserves the right to require more presence in the office based on business needs, and requirements are subject to change with periodic reviews.

Physical Requirements:

Office Environment - roles involving part to full time schedule in Office Environment. Based in our physical offices and work from home office/deskwork - Activity level: Sedentary, frequency most of work day.

External hires must pass a background check/drug screen. Qualified applicants with arrest records and/or conviction records will be considered for employment in a manner consistent with Federal, State and local laws, including but not limited to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regards to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran status or disability status and any other classification protected by Federal, State and local laws.

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